Teens playing with fireworks spark Ogden warehouse fire

Firefighters work to douse a blaze in an old building near the 24th Street overpass in west Ogden late Wednesday night

Teens playing with fireworks torched part of a military surplus warehouse in Ogden, authorities said.

The blaze was sparked Wednesday night by two 15-year-old boys playing with fireworks, Ogden police said. Firefighters said the boys tried to put out the fire, but it quickly spread in brush near the banks of the Ogden River toward the Smith and Edwards warehouse.

"This is not a good area to be lighting fireworks," deputy Ogden Fire Chief Chad Tucker said Thursday.

Smith and Edwards  which bills itself as a place that sells just about anything and everything  has a slogan that says: "We have it, if you can find it." For Ogden firefighters, that was their main concern.

"There's just a lot of product all over in there, engines, barrels, propane tanks, all kinds of lumber. They had ammunition," Tucker said.

The fire raced up the side of the warehouse and torched three floors.

"They did have some ammunition that was popping," he said.

Nearby was a chemical plant, creating more worries for firefighters. They brought in 24 firefighters and a lot of engines to battle the blaze. Fire hydrants were so far away, Tucker said they had create a chain just to get water to the fire.

"We'd connect to the hydrant and go to the engine, use the engine to pump water to the next engine that could pump to the fire," he said.

The 15-year-olds were cited for reckless endangerment, Ogden Police Lt. Mike Ashment said. Authorities said the teens tried to put out the fire, but it got ahead of them.